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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would give this 3.75 stars. I enjoyed the story and want to do some digging into this history since it is based on a true story. The book lagged a bit and it could have been more concise.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a good time!
Needed to return to library and didn’t feel invested enough to renew it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Intriguing combination of mystery, fiction, historical court trial, gilded age NYC tale, and a woman’s success story. Deceit vs deception. Long but audiobook makes listening easy. Better than expected.
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This was a great mixture of history, fiction, and mystery!
This book opens with a murder - a rich white man, Andrew H. Green, the Father of Greater New York is shot in broad daylight by a Black man. We are left to figure out a) why did this man kill Green & b) who was this woman that our killer was deeply in love with.
We then meet our main character, Hannah Elias, and find out why our murderer was shouting her name, Bessie to the police. We are then rushed back to the formative years of Hannah when she was known as Bessie Davis and follow her through many experiences - jail, prostitution, childbirth, familial issues, and sexual assault - that have shaped who she currently is. I also really enjoyed some of the historical information related to the development of New York City in the early 1900s.
My only issue was A LOT was packed into this story and while I understand that her backstory is relevant to the current day murder mystery, I found myself checking out on certain parts just because of the length of the novel. Overall, this was a very informative read that will ultimately lead me to google everything and anything I can find out about The Great Mrs. Elias. Definitely pick this one up if you love history and mysteries.
Thank you to Netgalley, Barbara Chase - Riboud, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This book opens with a murder - a rich white man, Andrew H. Green, the Father of Greater New York is shot in broad daylight by a Black man. We are left to figure out a) why did this man kill Green & b) who was this woman that our killer was deeply in love with.
We then meet our main character, Hannah Elias, and find out why our murderer was shouting her name, Bessie to the police. We are then rushed back to the formative years of Hannah when she was known as Bessie Davis and follow her through many experiences - jail, prostitution, childbirth, familial issues, and sexual assault - that have shaped who she currently is. I also really enjoyed some of the historical information related to the development of New York City in the early 1900s.
My only issue was A LOT was packed into this story and while I understand that her backstory is relevant to the current day murder mystery, I found myself checking out on certain parts just because of the length of the novel. Overall, this was a very informative read that will ultimately lead me to google everything and anything I can find out about The Great Mrs. Elias. Definitely pick this one up if you love history and mysteries.
Thank you to Netgalley, Barbara Chase - Riboud, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated